Battle of the Jockstrap...

If he dose not go backwards then Marciano would be inside the jab verry quickly. He is not going to get discouraged and he is not going to top coming.

Trying to go toe to toe would be suicide for Holmes.

 

I'm not so sure its suicide for Holmes toe to toe. He has the faster hands, and if he flurries and gets out or clinches, he should do all right.

 

I'm curous as to why many people choose Marciano over Holmes, yet still choose Lewis over Tyson.

Tyson was larger and much more powerful, Lewis has a shaky chin...yet some (many) still think Lewis would either UD him or knock him out.

How can Marciano, whose only real asset in this matchup is an iron chin and huge heart (and "power") be chosen over an ATG boxer like Holmes who was both more skilled AND had a known good chin, yet a bigger, harder punching, better combination punching Tyson gets made to "quit" by Lennox, who has KNOWN chin problems.

 

You forget Marciano has more than thsos assets.

Slick to slip a jabs.
Underated defense,
2 hand power.
and the KEY factor imo, for the Rock to gut it out is his amazing stimia to never stop thowing punchings.

 

That's the thing, Tyson is arguably better at slipping the jab, has better defense than Marciano did, and has better power in both hands. At the very least they are equal in those categories, but with all that being said how does Lewis beat him? Lewis has a glass jaw, while Holmes' jaw seems to be the only reason people favor him to last the distance against Marciano...

 

Not pre exile Ali he couldn't. I'm also not sure i'd agree Ali wasn't any good at slugging. Far from the best, but he had his moments against some serious punchers.

 

He would do alright for a bit but Marciano would break him down like he broke down everybody who traded with him.

At the end of the day Marciano hits a lot harder, needs less room to set up, is busier, more durable and perhaps even stronger in the clinches.

This is not a guy that you would want to go toe to toe with unless you had the ofensive arsenal of a sonny Liston or George Foreman.

 

The crucial diference is that Lewis has the power to make his physical advantages really tell on a smaller fighter. He probably hits harder with his jab than Holmes dose with a right cross.

There are many kinds of physical advantages incidentaly. Marciano has power durability and workrate over Holmes. These are also physical advantages.

 

I seriously doubt that. Larry had a harder jab than Lewis, and Larry's right cross is harder than his jab.

 

Don't doubt it, it's impossible not to mention absurd. Holmes stopped and dropped too many fighters to count with right hands. Given the fact Lewis would be scoring more often with his jab than Larry with the right where are the kd's let alone the KO's due to the jab? Lewis used his jab well and certainly didn't struggle to land it.

Just imagine it, "Joe Bloggs hurt, and here comes Lewis wailing away and loading up on the jab, looking for that one big straight left to knock his man out."

:hey

 

Interesting match-up.

I have one of them at #5 and the other at #6 alltime, head-to-head.

I can never decide which is 5 and which is 6.

 

A tough fight for both men.

My opinion on the Holmes' jab is that Marciano doeasn't really deal with it. It was definitely a world-class jab, and although Marciano would evade his fair share, Holmes will be peppering him all night with it.
How does Rocky deal with the jab? By doing what Marciano always did, take one to land one; by willing himself through the punches.

Most of the time, when you match a great slugger with a great boxer, it makes for a great fight, irrespective of the perceived difference in class. We must remember that although Holmes was great at what he did, Marciano too was great at what he did.
It wasn't pretty, but flap me sideways it was effective.

Basically, I envision a war of attrition which ultimately nearly every Marciano championship fight bacame. Holmes lacked the power to take Rocky out quickly, so despte Maricano's propensity to cut against sharp punchers, this fight is not ending anytime soon.
Holmes was tough and often fancied himself in a slugfest. Once or twice that nearly cost him. Against Marciano, Holmes would need to get Marciano's respect by standing his ground and shooting from the hip at least a couple of times, just to let Rocky know that he wasn't just a fancy boxer. Holmes would have to grit it out and be tough in this one.

I see this as a battle of wills at the end of the day. Holmes' physical advantages and better handspeed give him the edge, but Marciano's overall physicality and durability make him a live opponent right up to the closing bell.

Holmes by UD. (Possibly late-round stoppage due to cuts)

 

You're concentrating too much on what your eyes see. There are so many variables that make up any one fight, and to concentrate on only a few aspects is wrong.
Here you're talking about two guys who make most peoples' ATG lists. Both great fighters. At the sharp end, how many battles like this are won on skill alone? Very few. It's almost always a battle of will and skill.

I think almost everyone would agree there is a gulf in class (well, a big gap anyway) between a young Holmes and an old Ken Norton, yet that fight was based on who wanted it more. The skill aspect although important, wasn't the be-all and end-all there.